The population of the study is English school books distributed in Central Java

I|IfiHT AfiAINSI

CONRUPTION,

RII,IGIOUS

TOI,IRANTE

ANII GDNI}IR IQUA[ITY

IN

[NGI,I$H

$THOOI, BOOKS

a slutly 0l [nglish Boolrs lor senior Hign schools llistribuled in [entral _lava

By Hartono

(A Lecturer at English Education Department of Sultan Agung lslamic University)

Fight against corruption, religious tolerance, and gender equality are among the important issues

that

need

to

be disseminated massively

to

all levels

of

society by the government, religious and political leaders, public figures ^as well as schools and

educators.

Corruption has

ruined the most

essential

pillars of

social justice;

religious intolerance potentially threatens the nation unity; while gender inequality

is

against

the

principles

of

human

rights.

English lessons

at

schools have the

potentialto

be developed in ^{such a} way that sustains and strengthens the efforts

to

create better lndonesia through the introduction of values and norms in favor of the

fight

against corruption, religious tolerance and gender equality.

lt

is so because English lesson may present a

wide

array

of

topics through

its

reading, speaking,

writing,

even listening

sections.

This

study is

aimed

at

investigating

how

this potential is explored by curriculum and material developers -reflected on the books they wrote, and how those values and norms are presented on

texts.

This study is

explorative which puts English school books as

its

objects. The population

of

the study is English school books distributed

in

Central

Java.

Samples are taken and serve as the focus of the analysis. ^The data are descriptively analyzed by employing CDA

approach.

The results

of the

study are useful

for

curriculum designers and materials developers especially

in

equipping

their efforts to write

English books which cover not only linguistic ^aspects but also values and norms.

Key words: values dnd norms, English school books, material development.

1

INTRODUCTION

Fight against

corruption

^(FaC), religious tolerance ^(RT), and gender equality ^(GE) are among the important ^issues that need to be disseminated massively to all levels of society ^by the government, religious and political leaders, public figures ^as well as schools and educators, since

these issues are essential

for the

creation

of better lndonesia.

^FaC

is

extremely important because it seems that today corruption ^is not slowing down but ^is spreading more massively like an octopus

to

almost all levels of bureaucracies and organizations. Everyday we read, listen ^and

watch

news

about

corruption

and corruptors.

They

are

government officers, legislators, businesspersons

etc.

^{Because of} corruption, the country's wealth is only enjoyed by small ^parts of society. Corruption ^has ruined the most essential pillars of socialjustice.

When

this

paper was prepared

-for

^example-

^two

major corruption cases allegedly involved important figures were under investigation

of

the Corruption Eradication ^Commission (KPK). The first case was the corruption in the construction of athletes'

dorm

(Wismo Atletl for

{

l

rc

E

\-=

l=

r'3 t.<

J

Language Teaching and Character

Building 307

lhe Sea Games 201-1. This case has brought

M

Nazzarudin

- ^the

ex general treasurer

of

the Democratic Party- behind bars. The party's leaders were also under intensive media scrutiny.

The second case was the corruption ⁱⁿ the Ministry of Man Powers and Transmigration as

.re KPK caught in the acts two officials from the ministry who were ^{receiving a} bribe of 1-.5 billion -.:piahs (US5175,500) serving

as

'ldul Fitri bonus (THR)'from a businesswoman

to

accelerate an

rfrastructure project

in a

resettlement area

in the

West Papua capital

of Manokwari.

^How .:ameful it was, when the budget for

developi?i *rt

easily misused for personal purposes.

Though

it

has been improving, RT

and

harmony must

be

^promoted

and

sustained :cntinuously by all members of society. lndonesian people must ^keep exploring ways and means

::

develop a society where people

of

diverse faiths and culture can live together in peace and

-armony.

_As

a

country

with

differ'ent religions and

faiths,

lndonesia is fragile

of

conflicts :-iggered by a'narrow-mindedness'of few religious believers who view other believers ^{as rivals}

" rd enemies rather than ^pa

rtners

who ^{ca n} work and ^live together side by side to achieve peace

.rd

harmony. The destruction of places of worships, physical conflicts among sects of religious ::lievers,

the riot

in Ambon and a

terror

attack in a church in Solo both in September zOLt

-

,,,

rich into

certain extent might be triggered by religious issues- are clear signs

that

religious -tolerance will always pose threats to national unity. We must agree without any reserve that no

;:clety will be able to survive if religious intolerance is permitted to thrive. lntolerance destroys :^e communities, and when

the

communities are destroyed, so is

the nation.

School children

-lst

be made aware of this ^as early as possible through many forms of engagement in teaching

- -d _learning

process.

*{.:r.

The condition

of

women

in

lndonesia varies among regions and ethnic groups.

ln

big : :'es and educated communities, significant progress has been made

in

achieving

a

gender : alance between men and

women.

ln education sector

for

example, nowadays we see many

;

^-ls are pursuing

their

education

at

universities.

ln

business sectors, we can also

find

many

,:men

occupy

important positions.

Some

women

have also achieved

high

^{positions in} .:,,ernment, legislative bodies as well as political parties.

Despite

the

achievement,

the

stereotypes and sex role prevail

in

rural areas and ^less

=:ucated communities where men are perceived as the breadwinners ^and decision makers in the

',nily

^while women

will

only serve as mothers and housewives. Gender balance ^awareness, -erefore, _is still crucial issue that must be ^addressed by the

nation.

Letting practice of gender

-:quality

is against

the

basic principles

of

human rights which view men and women are born

=:laliy.

3

^{CHARACTER EDUCATION}

Character education ^has been emerging ^as a hot issue in recent years. This seems

to

^be

:-e

response

to

the failure of the nation in developing competitiveness. While lndonesia ^{has a}

.:ry

large territory with abundant natural resources and the fifth biggest population in the world, :-is country progresses slowly in achieving its ^goals

to

become a prosperous

nation.

Corruptive ::haviors, low discipline, decreasing spirit of nationalism, preference to instant result rather than :rocess, intolerance

to

diversity are among'unproductive'characters frequently attributed to

"*any lndonesians. Law Number

20

Year 2003

on

National Education System signifies the roortance

of

character

education. lt

stipulates clearly

that the

objective

of the

lndonesian

rUNt.

iqm r

Snt

Education is to create devoted, ethical, strong, intelligent, creative, independent, democratic and responsible human beings.

Tim Pakar Yayasan Jati Diri Bangsa (2011) suggests 7 changes to improve effectiveness ot character education

at schools.

They

are

changes

in

perspective, environment, learning processes, learning materials, success criteria, principal and teachers'capability, and school

-

students' parents relationship. Koesoema A (2010) suggests 5 methods

of

character education They are teaching, modeling, prioritizing, priority practicing, and reflection.

Thus, values and norms must be disseminated through

the

^process

of

learning anc teaching both directly and indirectly. Direct dissemination can be in the form of presentation and discussion

of

values and norms as what

the

students

at

schools may have

in

lessons such as

Religion, Citizenship ^(PPKn), Social Sciences (lPS). While indirect dissemination can be in the form of exposure through lessons as language, arts, sports etc.

3

ENGLISH SCHOOT BOOKS

Many different English school books are available for students of Senior High Schools in

Central

iava.

To mention some are (in alphabetical order) Contextuol English published by ^pT

Tiga

Serangkai Pustaka

Mandiri,

Developing English Competencies

by

Pusat Perbukuan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, English A/ive published by Yudistira, English

for

Better Life bv

Yrama

Widya,

English

Zone by

Erlangga, lnterlanguoge

by

Pusat Perbukuan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, Look Ahead by Erlangga etc.

The prices of these school books vary. Some cost very _{cheap as} Developing English which is sold at around Rp 11.000,- while some others are relatively expensive as Contextual English which is sold at around Rp 70.000,-. The majority of the books are sold around Rp 30.000,- to Rp

4s.000.

Though there are differences in the details of materials, most those school books claim to have met the criteria for content standard (stondor

isil2006.

They have included four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary.

These English books

are

used

as

resource

and

practice books

for

English lesson.

However, there seems

to

be different ways of using

them.

Some schools use them as the main learning materials. Students learn and discuss what are presented on, do practices and exercises page by page. They also serve as reference for assessment and evaluation. Some other schools use these books only

for supplement.

The students

do not go

through

all the

materials presented. lnstead, they use student work books (LKS). Many LKS are composed by the teacher association (MGMP). They usually have fewer ^pages, compacted materials, are printed in reused, black and white papers. Some teachers recommend LKS to their students because of its price ^and availability. They may get them through their teacher and have cheaper prices.

4

^HOW VATUES AND NORMS MAY BE PRESENTED IN ENGLISH SCHOOL BOOKS

English lessons at schools have the potential

to

be developed in such a way that sustain and strengthen

the

efforts

to

create better lndonesia through

the

introduction

of

values and norms in favor of the FaC, RT, and GE. lt is so because English lesson may present a wide array of topics through its reading, speaking, writing, even listening sections. Those values and norms can be presented in various types of activities and forms.

Stondor Kompetensi Bahasa lnggris SMA mentions language skills that must be mastered by

students: listening,

speaking, reading and

writing. lt

also mentions very specifically 5

competences

of

communicative, linguistic, socio-cultural,

strategic as well as

discourse competences. But it does not mention very specifically the content. What is meant here is that

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ileachers and book writers ^have the freedom to ^select materials which ^{may give} students not only ihe competencies but ^also the ^values and norms conveyed ⁱⁿ the language' ^Topics for dialogs of speaking practice, reading ^passages, and writing practice may be developed into the ones that

rvolve

those values and norms. For example, conversation practices

for

asking and ^giving :cinion:

'Whatdoyouthinkof

thewomentoday? Cantheydothingsaswell ^asmen?' will serve

rot

_only as a model

of

asking opinion but also a trigger

for

critical thinking about ^{GE. Reading} :assages may involve ^many types of texts ^as recount, narrative, exposition, descriptive,

etc"

^FaC,

r,T, and GE can serve as topics for those texts'

5

^METHOD

5.1

Research Design

This research was explorative. lt was aimed at looking for information on the subject, ⁱⁿ this case was to see whether ^English school books for senior

high

schools distributed in central rava have accommodated

the

introduction

of

norms and values concerning Fac, ^RT, and GE'

:revious research and information are not very much available; therefore, ^an exploration to see ,',,hat the schools books are like is necessary'

5.2

PoPulation and SamPle

The

population

of ^this

^research

^was

^English school books

of

Senior High ^School Jistributed

in

Central ^Java. The

word

'distributed'

in this

^{study means}

that the

books were a,,,ailable and sold on book stores. Student's work books ^(LKS) which were locally published ^and rsed as supplement to the school ^books were not included ^as the population' Three ^books were :aken as samples

for

the

study.

^They

were

Contextual English, Engtish Alive, and Look Aheod' These three ^samples were taken randomly from the population'

5.3

^{Unit of AnalYsis}

As an explorative study,

the

research didn't definitely limit

the

unit

of

analysis into for :xample texts of reading passages. lnstead, the researcher looked through almost all line by ^line

:f

^{the samples}

^to

^see whether there were presentations of the

topics.

^{lt was very possible that} lhe topics of FaC, RT, and GE each of them were presented only in ^{a single} separate sentence ^as sentence

for

^grammar practice, dialogs

or

conversation practice,

writing

tasks,

or

^reading

passages.

5

^{FINDING AND DISCUSSION}

The study of the samples revealed that topics of Fac, RT, and GE - though they were still minimum

-

have been selected as learning materials

in

English School books

for

senior ^high schools from ^{grade X} to grade Xll.

Related

to

Fac, Look Aheod 1 for students of grade X was the only book which presents something related

to

corruption.

lt

^presents

a

^picture

of a

news program

of

Liputan

6'

^The

presenter is a woman with ^{a news}

title

^{'KoRlJpsl BtJLoG' (page L7a). The} instructions put under the pictures are:

1)

Totk about whot you see in the picture; 2) ^Do you like reading

/

listening to news? why

/why

^{not? Etc.} Though the focus of the presentation is discussion on news item, it may be extended

into

^cases

of other

corruptions occurring

in the

^present

^time

^so

^that

^the

students have more understanding on the issue. Corruption in Bulog occurred years ago and

it

was not actual anymore. I believe that the students have a

little to

say about the

topic'

^This

picture appears again

in

Look Aheod

3

page 158 unit 5 Thinking Criticolly under the instruction give points on TV Programs.

sln

PT ualn

:bV

ngif'l

rd rd

irs rTn

riL*

ssh,

rRp

nto ffie

sor nain 16€5I

nols rra[s cher :sed,

r and

stain

; and ay of

s can

tered

dty

^s

ourse s that

Look Ahead

2

also presents

a

reading passage which _{serves as}

a

model

for

hortatorn expcrsition. The topic is'Corruption: Jakarto os

the

most corrupt place

in

tndonesio,. The passa::

follows the structure of thesis, argument 1, argument

2,

and recommendation. lnterestingly - the recommendation it says: 'l believe we should start at

the

eorliest stoges

in

school ond ! th ^{- t} evetyone should be involved

in the effort to

eradicate

corruption. We

must not

make:-

distinrtion.' ^(Look Ahead p. 1g5).

There was no clear presentation

of

RT on the samples. Contextuot _{English -1} presentj n

chapter entitled : Religious ond Morol Educotion (pp.17

-32)

ln this chapter there were readir:

passage, vocabulary exercises, paragraph making practice, text organization and many mori Unfortunately the statement saying that as religious believers we must respect other religions . hard

to

find. The reading passage only describes on how

to

behave well both at school and a:

home.

The school book

in the

samples

that

best describe GE is perhaps Engtish Ative. _Th:

presentationofGEisnotintheformsofpassagesbutintheformsofpictures.

thesebooksha,.:

a

lot rolorful

pictures

of

boys and girls, men and women. Engtish Alive

l

presents a profile c, lrene Kharisma Sukandar -who was described as the most successful chess player- as a model for descriptive text (p 94)' on the next page wimar witoelar is presented _{as a} famous public figure.

7

CONCTUSTON

Not all English school books for senior high school have included topics of fight agains:

corruption, religious tolerance, and gender equality. The analysis of the samples shows that the presentation

of

those topics was very minimal. Popular topics are dominating. Topics as figh:

against eorruption and gender equality were presented both reading passages

*d

^pi.turus. This

study didn't find topic which can be said as overtly signifying religious tolerance. As the issues a:

fight against corruption, religious tolerance, gender equality are important, we expect that in the future material developers and curriculum designers would llke

to

include those topics in their

br: o ks.

REF€R€NECES

lri;Jr;s',t31;, Tri. 2010. English Alive 2. yudistira.

lr'r;friritrfIriJ

A, Doni. 2007.

Pendidikon Korokter Strategi Mendidik Anak

di

Jamon Gtobai.

Grasindo.

l',{uiyr;rio and M.J. Ari widayanti. 2010. Engtish Alive L. yudistira.

Ral<a, Gede. At al. 2011. pendidikon Korokter di sekotoh.

pr

_{Elex Media} 5udarwati, Th.

M.

ZOa6. Look Ahead 7,2 & 3. penerbit Erlangga.

Sugeng, Bambang and Noor Zarimah.

2009.

Contextuar Engtish 1, 2 frilstal<a Mandiri.

widayanti, I\4"J" Ari and Rinisusanti wulandari. Engtish Alive

3.

^yudistira.

& 3.

PT Tiga Serangkai

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